Awards

• Winner of ESSE Book Award for Literatures in the English Language 2010.
• Winner of Winner of the ESSE Book Award for Literatures in the English Language 2010.

Overview

This wide-ranging and original book reappraises the role of genre in British Romanticism. It explores the generic innovations that drive the Romantic 'revolution in literature', but also the fascination with archaic forms such as the ballad, sonnet, epic, and romance, whose revival and transformation make Romanticism a 'retro' movement as well as a revolutionary one. The tension between the drive to 'make it old' and 'make it new' generates one of the most dynamic phases in the history of literature, whose complications are played out in the critical writing of the period as well as its poetry, prose, and drama. Unprecedented in its scope and detail, this important book establishes a new way of reading Romantic literature which brings into focus for the first time its tangled relationship with genre.

Full Product Details

9780199572748

Table of Contents

Reviews

Duff provides illuminating evidence for the view that the Romantic period was acutely genre-conscious... this is a richly detailed and admirably researched book that will prove invaluable to all students of Romanticism Ross Wilson, Times Literary Supplement

The question of genre is still one of the thorniest in literary criticism, and its complexities persist beyond all theoretical paradigms brought to bear on it. Romantic genre, arguably the very ground of our cultural conundrums about reference, historicity, and class, has found a worthy scholar in David Duff, who gathers the dense materials of his subject with an unblinking rigor ... judicious and impressive Karen Weisman, Studies in Romanticism a remarkable achievement ... Duff writes lucidly and eloquently... His book is a pleasure as well as an education to read. Richard Cronin, The Wordsworth Circle Duff provides illuminating evidence for the view that the Romantic period was acutely genre-conscious... this is a richly detailed and admirably researched book that will prove invaluable to all students of Romanticism Ross Wilson, Times Literary Supplement the most comprehensive study of the literary field of Romantic poetry to have appeared since Stuart Curran's landmark Poetic Form and British Romanticism (Oxford, 1986). Duff brings a historically more dynamic, developmental understanding of genre, its historical roots, and its formation within the institutions of literary production... Authoritative in range and command Ian Duncan, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 an ambitious, timely, and insightful appraisal... Duff's chapters are eclectic, comprehensive, and packed with detail, and... will undoubtedly benefit both undergraduates and scholars alike in their quest to fathom the underlying complexities and inherent tensions associated with the 'uses of genre', not just in the Romantic period but throughout the eighteenth century and beyond. Adrian J. Wallbank, Modern Language Review Duff's very fine study... adds significantly to our understanding of the complexities of a topic that in its day was conceptually and practically all over the map J. Douglas Kneale, Review of English Studies Duff's recent work on Romantic poetry shows the extent to which genre studies are very much alive and kicking. Drawing on German and English Romantic theory and practice... Duff's book is to be saluted for its engaging richness and subtlety Erik Martiny, English Studies Duff's elegant, lucid prose and his careful documentation reinforce his compelling thesis that during the Romantic era genres (and genre theories) were neither degraded nor compromised but were, to the contrary, revived, subverted and most of all recombined for strikingly new artistic and ideological purposes. Books that offer a genuinely 'fresh' look - a startlingly new perspective - are rare: this is one such book, and reading it is richly rewarding. Stephen C. Behrendt, British Association of Romantic Studies Bulletin and Review Anyone interested in a careful and fair-minded assessment of neoclassical genre criticism and the intellectual heirs and rebels it produced would do well to consult this book; and even scholars familiar with the field might make surprising discoveries about texts or interconnections they had not previously considered. Christopher R. Miller, European Romantic Review

Duff provides illuminating evidence for the view that the Romantic period was acutely genre-conscious... this is a richly detailed and admirably researched book that will prove invaluable to all students of Romanticism Ross Wilson, Times Literary Supplement the most comprehensive study of the literary field of Romantic poetry to have appeared since Stuart Curran's landmark Poetic Form and British Romanticism (Oxford, 1986). Duff brings a historically more dynamic, developmental understanding of genre, its historical roots, and its formation within the institutions of literary production... Authoritative in range and command Ian Duncan, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 Duff's elegant, lucid prose and his careful documentation reinforce his compelling thesis that during the Romantic era genres (and genre theories) were neither degraded nor compromised but were, to the contrary, revived, subverted and most of all recombined for strikingly new artistic and ideological purposes. Books that offer a genuinely 'fresh' look a startlingly new perspective are rare: this is one such book, and reading it is richly rewarding. Stephen C. Behrendt, British Association of Romantic Studies Bulletin and Review

Author Information

David Duff studied in York and taught in Poland at the Nicholas Copernicus University of Torun and the University of Gdansk before moving to Scotland. He has published widely on Romantic poetics and book history. His previous publications include Romance and Revolution: Shelley and the Politics of a Genre (1994), an anthology of Modern Genre Theory (2000), and a co-edited collection, Scotland, Ireland, and the Romantic Aesthetic (2007). He is currently editing The Oxford Handbook of British Romanticism and The Oxford Anthology of Romanticism, a major new teaching anthology.

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